Gwaines Sister
by Watch5
Summary: An idea I've had for a while where Gwaines younger sister turns up at Camelot not realising he's also there, she's being tried for thievery having lived almost the same lifestyle as Gwaine. There is a lot more to it but wouldn't be able to fit it all in.
1. Chapter 1

Leon looked down at the bed he was standing next to, in which was a very pale and ill looking Gwaine, to Gaius who was standing opposite him.

"I'll be fine all I have to do is sit on a horse for a bit" Gwaine tried weakly.

"No" Gaius replied sternly.

"But I'm not coughing any more" Gwaine tried to laugh but ended up having a massive coughing fit, he smiled slightly "well when I say anymore I really mean hardly at all" he grinned up at Gaius.

"No" he repeated "you are not going on that patrol".

"Are you sure he can't?" Leon asked, Gaius looked up and raised his eyebrows before answering rather irately,

"Yes I'm sure, who is the physician round here?" Leon sighed and looked across to Percival who was standing silently in the middle of the room, he shrugged.

"You said it was a twenty four hour thing".

"I did and it will be if he stays here and rests. Now if you don't mind I have other patients that need seeing to" and with that Gaius swept out of the room.

"Honestly I thought you would be glad not to go" Percival said walking over to them.

"Well I would be but not going means being bored out of my mind here instead" Leon smiled slightly.

"Look it's for the best you stay here for today but when you're better I'll schedule you onto more patrols, only because you're so desperate to come". Gwaines smile vanished instantly not having realised he was joking.

"You know what I don't think I can come, patrols, boring things, never liked them, quite glad really, no need to bother", Percival started to laugh and realisation dawned on him, he sighed in frustration.

"Leave the dying alone and go and tell Arthur the bad news".

"Bad news! Who said this was bad news? At last one patrol that'll be quiet" Gwaine scowled and turned over so he didn't have to look at their grinning faces. He heard them start to leave before they stopped again.

"Well be back once it's over to see how you're doing of course and let you know how everything went", Gwaine could tell they were still smiling and knew they would only come back to irritate him further and probably bring Elyan as well, he reached subtly for a small pillow, the only thing near him good enough to throw, and launched it across the room in their general direction. From the sound of it, it missed them both of them. He sighed as he heard them close the door behind him and turned over trying to get some sleep.

Leon and Percival having exited the room quickly after the pillow incident, incase he found better throw, and being slightly late hurried down to the courtyard where an angry Arthur waited with a smirking Elyan.

"Where have you two been? You're late" he all but shouted.

"Our apologies, sire but.." Before he could finish his sentence Arthur butted in again

"And where on Earth is Gwaine honestly I am going to kill him" Leon, knowing Arthur was most likely about to go into some sort of rant, spoke up loudly.

"My lord, that is what we are trying to tell you".

"Then where is he?"

"He came down with an illness late last night and Gaius has told him he can't come today, he sends his apologies".

"And you've just seen him" Percival nodded "well let's hope he gets better but now we need to get going" and with that he swung up onto his horse and rode out the courtyard, closely followed by Elyan, Percival, Leon, Merlin and two other knights that were to join them.

Elyan sighed slightly louder than he meant to which caused Merlin to look round "you alright" he asked slowing down so he was riding next to him.

"Honestly starting to wish Gwaine was here, at least then it would slightly more interesting than this".

"This is good though, the quieter it is the safer Camelot is" Merlin tried, wanting to join in on any conversation Percival rode up beside them.

"Elyan's right if we have to ride any longer like this I'm going to fall asleep in my saddle".

"What's got into Arthur?" Elyan asked "he's been in a bad mood all day", Merlin shrugged.

"Didn't sleep last night apparently".

"Poor excuse" their conversation lapsed into silence as they rode further on. Just as they could at last see Camelot coming into view Arthur halted the patrol. Merlin rode forward.

"Arthur what's going on?" The only response was Arthur holding his finger to his lips, Merlin listened but couldn't hear anything, turning back to the others he could tell they couldn't hear anything either and were starting to get fed up, he didn't blame them, they were so close to home. A rustle in the trees to his right caught his attention he turned back just to catch a glimpse of a cloaked figure running across the road in front of them. Feeling slightly disappointed that that was it he turned back to Arthur and realised he had dismounted.

"Arthur that was it let's go", Arthur shook his head and drew his sword motioning for the others to do the same, they quickly dismounted just as a mob of angry bandits charged straight past them.

"Arthur that was..."

"I know".

"But why didn't he attack us?"

"I don't know but I'm going to find out" and with that he plunged into the trees after them, quickly grabbing their swords the rest of the knights and Merlin ran after him. They caught up and approached the clearing silently, staying just outside of eyesight but close enough so they could hear they crouched down to see what was going on, the bandits seemed to be interrogating the cloaked figure they had seen earlier, by the looks of things he had tried to put up a fight.

"Where is it?" One of them questioned.

"Now why would I tell you that" Merlin looked up shocked, it was a girl that had spoken, he felt a movement to his left and saw Arthur and the other knights had stood up and walked into the clearing. No one was paying any attention so Arthur cleared his throat loudly, the bandits all turned around.

"Gentlemen, what a surprise".

"Arthur Pendragon" their leader spat "I wondered how long it would be before you, interfered".

"By the looks of things not long enough, now drop your weapons and no one will be hurt" they started laughing, Arthur looked around "this is your last warning". No one moved so Arthur attacked the man nearest to him, soon the clearing was ringing with the sound of swords and axes clashing against each other. Merlin had originally decided to save the girl but in the confusion of the battle starting she had fought free and was defending herself pretty well. His mind went back to Arthur and he turned and saw him narrowly avoiding an axe, sending out a small blast of magic he made him stumble slightly which gave Arthur the opportunity to kill him. The battle continued on for a about a minute more before all the bandits had been taken out apart from their leader who was on the floor with a wound to his stomach which was bleeding heavily. Arthur walked over to him.

"It's not like you to miss an opportunity to kill me" the bandit said nothing. Arthur tried again "what was so different this time?"

"It was her" he started to cough violently "she stole it, the thief" he said weakly before his head fell back and hit the ground dead. Looking up he spotted her rummaging around in a bag one of the bandits had dropped.

"What are you doing?" He demanded as she emptied a small pouch of silver coins into her own, her head snapped up as if she had forgotten they were there.

"Taking their money" she replied casually as she moved onto another body.

"Why?"

"Well they're dead and aren't going to need it and I'm alive and am, I wouldn't expect rich nobles such as yourselves to understand though".

"He called you a thief".

"A lot of people call me that" she answered pocketing another couple of coins.

"I don't like thieves".

"I don't like nobles, but I'm not a thief" she added as an after thought.

"Then what are you?" Leon asked.

"A traveller".

"A traveller" Arthur repeated slightly confused.

"Yes not everyone's rich enough to stay in the same place their whole lives".

"What about getting a job" she shrugged.

"Boring not enough adventure" by this point Elyan had sidled up to Percival.

"Is it just me or does she remind you of someone" he whispered, smiling Percival nodded in agreement and went back to listening to the conversation just as Leon interrupted.

"Show some respect" he said loudly.

"Why?" She retaliated "all that makes me different from him is what we're wearing".

"There is a lot more than that".

"Go on".

"He is the king" Elyan smiled slightly as her face changed to surprise.

"You're the king?" She asked not quite believing him.

"Yes, Arthur Pendragon king of Camelot" he introduced "do you have a problem with that".

"Oh no not at all I just thought..." She trailed off.

"Thought what?" Arthur asked not sure he wanted to know what she was going to say next.

"Well just that you'd be taller" Percival laughed slightly but stopped immediately after Arthur shot him an angry look.

"What's your name?" Merlin asked she turned towards him allowing Percival to move around the clearing behind her.

"Ira".

"Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Doesn't matter, you're just lucky I was here".

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It wouldn't have ended as quickly" she smiled "now if you don't mind" she made to leave the clearing but came face to face with Percival who, before she could do anything to protect herself, knocked her out.

"Hang on what did you do that for?" Merlin asked.

"She's a thief, thievery is against the law" Arthur replied "we'll take her back to Camelot to be tried fairly". They walked back to the horses and slowly made their way back.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ok so here's the next chapter, not too sure about it so please review. Also thanks for the reviews on the last chapter.**

When Ira came to the first thing she noticed was that she was in a cell and her head was throbbing, reaching up to see if there was any blood she looked down surprised because both of her hands had moved, they were chained together. Well she wasn't exactly surprised, she hadn't been the politest person but still, she had been unconscious, was this really necessary? An argument seemed to be going on outside the door, slowly Ira tried to get to her feet but as soon as she put any weight on her left foot she collapsed. Letting out a frustrated sigh she leant back against the wall, during the fight a club had just glanced her side, not enough to do any real damage, but enough to severely bruise it and leave her incapable of lifting herself up. The argument outside stopped suddenly, and if she didn't know correctly someone had just stormed off, followed by the sound of the door being unlocked. She looked up to see who would enter, it was Merlin followed by a guard.

"You see" he was saying "how am I going to be able to treat my patient with her hands chained together?"

"I've told you I can't, Sir Leon gave me strict instructions".

"Hang on, stop. Patient?" Merlin looked down at his feet slightly.

"I noticed in the fight a club caught you in the side, I wanted to make sure you didn't have any major damage" Ira nodded slowly.

"It didn't hit me too bad" she tried to shrug it off as if it was nothing.

"Just get her to lift her arms in the air", Merlin looked at the guard as if he was stupid "I'm not removing them" Merlin gritted his teeth together.

"Fine, can you stand up?" Ira shook her head.

"I twisted my ankle after I got knocked out" she smiled apologetically. Merlin rounded on the guard.

"What are you going to do now?" He demanded "come on you obviously have so many good ideas today", the guard shifted uncomfortably then walked over to the wall where a rope was tied. Letting it down they saw a hook emerge from the ceiling, when it was at the right height he tied it back to the wall.

"A hook brilliant, that's defiantly going to help" Merlin said sarcastically, ignoring him the guard walked over to Ira and pulled her up so that the chain running from either hand was hooked onto the hook.

"I shall leave you to your patient" Merlin gaped after him as he walked out and closed the door behind him.

"Idiot" he muttered "honestly give them an inch of room and they think they run the place", he turned back to Ira "I'm so sorry I didn't realise it would end up like this, are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah I can touch the floor so not to bad, believe me I've been in worse".

"Worse?" He sounded surprised before going slightly red, "I'm going to need to lift up your shirt slightly,is that alright".

"I suppose but only slightly, what's your name?" She could feel his cold fingers examining the massive bruise covering her side.

"I'm Merlin".

"And you're the" she winced slightly "doctor?" He laughed slightly.

"No, Gaius is the court physician, I'm just Arthurs servant".

"So why are you here and he's not?" He let her shirt fall back down.

"Well he's kinda teaching me about this sort of stuff, your side will be fine you were right it wasn't as bad as it looked, you should be fine for your trial".

"What? My trial?" Merlin nodded.

"You're being tried for thievery".

"Oh for crying out loud, I'm not a thief".

"Unfortunately that's not how Arthur sees you".

"He has no proof all he's going on is the word of a bandit".

"Well you did admit to being one" he laughed slightly and Ira couldn't help but smile as well.

"I said that's what people call me, not that's what I am, there's a difference" Merlin just shrugged.

"There's nothing I can do".

"That stuck up, arrogant, idiot. All nobles are the same, not a brain cell in the lot of them".

"Actually this one's not too bad, he's fair" Ira made a dismissive noise, "well I suppose you'll just have to find out for yourself then" he said walking out, not if I can help it she thought already coming up with various ways to escape.

Leon made his way to the dungeons having been asked to check on Ira by Arthur. He didn't see the point, she was most likely to be found guilty. Opening her door he did a double take surprised to see her suspended from the ceiling.

"What? Why are you?" He gestured up.

"It was the guard, well technically it was your fault by giving the guard 'strict instructions' not to unchain me" he was still looking confused so she went on, "Merlin came to check up on my injuries, I couldn't stand so this was his clever idea, he hasn't come back to let me down so you're going to have to do it", she had already seen the keys on his belt and worked out if she could just get him close enough she could take them. However instead of lifting the chain off the hook he took a couple of steps towards the wall intent on untying the rope, with his back turned towards her she took the opportunity that he wasn't wearing chain mail and kicked out catching him in just the right place. Leon fell backwards none of his limbs would respond, his eyes flickered up to Ira who was smiling down at him, he tried to shout but his voice wasn't obeying him either.

"Yeah you won't be able to move or call out, although you can still see and hear me" she started taking off her boots, "but don't panic, it doesn't last forever only a couple of minutes", with her feet free she reached towards the keys, and after a few attempts lifted the off the belt, "but that's all I need to get out of here", ignoring the pain in her side she swung her legs up so that she passed the keys from her feet to her hands and made quick work of unlocking the cuffs. Dropping to the ground, carefully landing on her right foot, she slipped her boots back on and took Leons sword. "Well, bye then" Leon could only glare back as she slipped out of the cell.

The passage was clear as she made her way towards what sounded like the guard room, peering round the corner she counted two playing cards and one asleep, thankfully they were so engrossed in their card game they didn't notice her creeping up behind them, she managed to knock them both out without waking the third.

Unable to find her sword, and aware of the time she was losing she limped quickly up the stairs, into the courtyard and straight into Percival.

"Why is it we keep meeting like this?" she laughed trying to back away. Percival had drawn his sword, she thought she had backed into a wall, but walls don't push you away and draw their sword. Turning around but still keeping Percival in view she saw it was Elyan.

"Drop your weapon".

"Rather wouldn't, two against one doesn't seem fair, especially since I'll be unarmed, but then again at least you'll stand a bit more of a chance", Percival's sword moved up to her throat.

"He said drop it", she thought about fighting them off but since her ankle and side were injured she give in and allowed the sword to drop from her hand.

"You're not supposed to be up here, how did you escape?" Elyan demanded as they led her back her down to her cell.

"Pretty easily actually" she said through the pain of accidentally using her left foot. The guards were still knocked out when they passed them, though Leon had just about regained the use of his body and had started to make his way out of the cell. Elyan crouched down beside him.

"Leon! What happened?" Leon opened his mouth to reply still finding it hard to talk.

"She...she knocked...me out...".

"Knocked you out" Leon shook his head.

"No...yes...she did but she didn't" he looked at both of them hoping that they would understand. They both looked back confused.

"I don't understand, Percival I'll take Leon to Gaius, you should probably stand guard and make sure she doesn't try and escape again", Percival nodded in agreement and dumped Ira in the cell before retrieving the keys and locking the door again.

Elyan and Leon had only just made it into the main castle before they bumped into Arthur.

"Leon, I'm almost ready to hold the trial, has she come round yet?" Leon nodded.

"She has but she" he paused "tried to escape".

"What, when?"

"Just now".

"But you stopped her".

"Yes, though I didn't" Arthur looked slightly confused.

"Go on".

"I went to see her, as you requested, and when I entered the cell she attacked me".

"How?" Arthur asked.

"I turned my back on her and she kicked me, but in such a way that I couldn't move or speak, but I could see and hear her. It was unlike anything I've...I didn't even know it was possible, I've never heard of it before".

"I have" they turned around to see Gwaine approaching.

"Gwaine" Arthur greeted "how are you feeling?"

"Ah much better, what were you saying?" Leon quickly explained what had happened, when he had finished Gwaine laughed.

"Looks like you have a bit of a trouble maker, yeah I've heard of it not much though".

"Well tell us what you do know".

"It's quite simple really, there is a spot on your back that, if you hit at the right angle hard enough, temporarily paralyses someone. It's great for fighting someone bigger than you, or catching people by surprise even disposing of someone you don't want to kill, although I have heard that there are some who use it for torture" Arthur nodded.

"Okay I want everyone in the council rooms in fifteen minutes for the trial, Elyan go tell Percival to come up now I want to speak to you all first" they all nodded and split up, Gwaine and Arthur went to the council chamber, Elyan to get Percival and Leon decided he was going to put on some chain mail.

Arthur was sitting in the big wooden chair as he waited for Ira to be brought in, his knights were standing to his left, some of the council to his right and Merlin was standing next to a pillar further back. The doors opened and two guards entered bringing in Ira, Arthur had hoped this was going to be a quick and easy trial, but those dreams were dashed as soon as she had walked halfway into the room and he heard the shout.

"You!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi, here's the next chapter hope you enjoy it. Thanks again to everyone who reviewed, and those that are following and those that favourited it. Please feel free to review more, what you like, what you don't etc anything really, even if it is just negatives I want to know. So uh yeah enjoy.**

"You!" He heard the shout come from his left and turned to see Gwaine lunging forward sword in hand. No sooner had he shouted another shout came from Ira.

"You!" Arthur turned back to her and watched as she elbowed the guards either side of her out of the way whilst grabbing a sword and attempting to lunge forward towards the knights, who were trying to , restrain Gwaine. Ira was being held back by Elyan, who had been the first to react to her attacking her guards. They were both shouting at each other, mainly threats, so Arthur had to almost scream to be heard over the top of them.

"STOP" they both stopped shouting and glared at him, Arthur was suddenly struck by how similar they looked, but they couldn't be related he thought.

"You're supposed to be dead" he heard Gwaine continue as he attempted yet again to break free from Leon and Percival.

"Well I'm sorry to disappoint you" she retaliated.

"Will someone please explain to me what is happening" Arthur bellowed having lost his patience, this time they stopped though neither knights would let go of them. Ira looked around before pointing the sword she had in her hand towards Gwaine.

"This is my brother" she said simply, though she spat the last word out as if it offended her, the room went deathly quiet. Arthur, not knowing how to react, turned to Gwaine.

"It's true" he admitted quietly, Arthur collapsed back into his chair, closed his eyes and sighed deeply.

"And you both want to kill each other?"

"Well I don't know about him, but I wouldn't mind pushing a sword through that cold unbeating heart of his".

"Why?"

"Because he left me to die". Gwaine could feel all the eyes in the hall suddenly turn to him.

"That's not true" he tried to defend himself.

"What do you mean that's not true, you couldn't wait to get rid of me" Ira cut over the top him. Arthur could tell with both of them in the same room he wasn't going to the bottom of this easily. He held up his hand to stop any retaliation Gwaine might think of.

"Right I can see there is something much bigger going on here, and I want to find out what so I..."

"Of course you do" he heard Ira mutter, "all nobles are nosey, especially when it doesn't concern them", Arthur gave up.

"Take her back to the dungeons" he ordered, only when the door had closed again did Leon and Percival allow Gwaine to pull out of their grasp.

"So that's the ugly old toad" Percival grinned.

"What? No. The toad is my older sister, that was my younger one" Gwaine answered angrily.

"You haven't mentioned her before".

"Because I thought she was dead" he almost shouted, anger was overwhelming him.

"I'm going to go and talk to her" Arthur announced.

"Why?"

"Because I want to find out her side of the story, Gwaine I want you to wait here until I get back", Gwaine shook his head, not trusting himself to speak, he strode out of the hall. He could hear them shouting after him, but he didn't care.

Arthur stared after him, the room was quiet until Merlin stepped forward.

"Arthur, I'll go talk to him about it" he offered, Arthur could only nod and watch as Merlin ran after him.

"Gwaine" he called after him "Gwaine, wait". Hearing it was only Merlin behind him Gwaine slowed down a bit.

"What is it?" He asked slightly more harsh than he had meant to.

"What was all that about?" He asked struggling to keep up with him, Gwaine didn't answer but kept walking until they reached the battlements looking out over the city and woods. "Gwaine you can tell me, I won't tell Arthur if that's what you want", Gwaine turned and looked at Merlin.

"I know you won't" he paused, "I just don't know what to do, to say".

"Well, why did you try and kill her when you first saw her?"

"I would never want to kill her" Merlin looked at him.

"Then I must have missed something because from what I saw, you know the whole lunging forward sword in hand, you wanted to kill her". Gwaine shook his head sadly, "then why attempt to? What happened when she said you left her to die?"

"I don't know I was angry at her. When I left home she came with me, I didn't want her to, I knew it wouldn't be safe, but I couldn't leave her, she had nowhere else to go. It was just over a two years later, we were being chased and ended up at a ravine with a river at the bottom of it, she was always slightly impatient, so instead of finding another way to cross, she was working on a way we could cross there". Gwaine stopped talking, Merlin could see he was trying to continue but something about the memory made him unable to continue.

"What happened?" Merlin asked softly, "were you caught?" Gwaine shook his head and laughed shakily, it looked like he was holding back tears.

"She went to close to the edge and caused a landslide, it took her and half the bank down with it, I didn't know what to do. I hid from those that were chasing us, they just assumed we had both died at the bottom".

"Didn't you look for the body?" Gwaine shook his head.

"Not soon enough, I know I should've but I couldn't face it, I couldn't go down there and find her body dead, especially knowing it was I that had put it there".

"It wasn't your fault" Merlin tried to comfort him, "you should be happy she's still alive, why are you angry at her?" he shrugged.

"Over time I guess I just blamed her for it, it was the only way I felt less guilty and could move on. And now I've said that out loud I realise how selfish I was, I am" he put his head in his hands. "Ahh Merlin what am I going to do? I've messed everything up so badly".

"No you haven't. I know you're cocky and stubborn but you have a good heart and want to make things right".

"So?" He mumbled from behind his hands.

"So go and talk to her, tell her what you've told me, and if she's anything like you, which I think she is, she will see you're telling the truth and maybe forgive you" Gwaine looked up, thinking it through.

"You're right" he smiled and clapped him on the shoulder, "I'm lucky to have you as a friend Merlin" he said before turning around and making his way towards the dungeon.

The walk was too long for Gwaine as it have him a chance to remember what happened again and for his anger towards her build, questions circled in his mind, why hadn't she tried to find him he thought. He was so lost in his thoughts he almost walked into Arthur coming back up from the cells.

"Gwaine" he heard his name and looked up.

"Arthur".

"Where are you going?"

"To talk to her", Arthur shook his head tiredly.

"She won't answer anything".

"Not to you she won't" he replied Arthur looked confused then realised.

"Oh the whole hate nobles thing" Gwaine nodded and turned to continue down the stairs, "Elyan's on guard, and I would prefer it if you wouldn't go into the cell, in case either of you kill each other".

"Now why would I do that?" Gwaine said over his shoulder.

"That's what I'm trying to find out" he heard Arthur call after him.

Ira was hugging her knees to her chest fiddling with the sleeve of her shirt.

"You know, I didn't expect you to come down here so soon", she looked up to where Gwaine was standing outside her cell, arms crossed. "I've already had the arrogant idiot that calls himself a king come and ask me questions..."

"Don't call him that" Gwaine said icily, Ira shrugged and continued.

"Of all the places I imagined you would be, here was not one of them, well I suppose you could've been here" she paused, "but not wearing that cape" she gestured to the gold dragon. "So why are you here? To gloat, finally going to be rid of me once and for all".

"Why are you in Camelot?"

"This isn't by my choosing I was brought here unconscious".

"But why were you in this area?" She shrugged and tried to be as vague as possible".

"I heard something, wanted to see for myself".

"What?"

"None of your business, is that it going to ask Arthur to hang me now?" He felt his anger towards her slowly dying away, Merlin was right he was happy to see her again.

"I never wanted you to die" he said holding onto the bars and resting his head on them.

"I'm not dead".

"That's not what I'm trying to say, when you fell off that cliff I thought you were dead, and knowing that it was my fault..."

"It wasn't your fault" she cut in, she sounded sad all the anger gone, he looked at her in surprise. "If I hadn't been so desperate to cross there..." She shrugged not finishing the sentence. "Why didn't you look for me? I know you weren't caught, so why?"

"I couldn't bear to see you dead" he answered honestly, "you're my sister, the only family I had left, I know I should have looked for you but by the time I brought myself to do it, I couldn't find any trace of you I figured that the current had taken you and that I'd have no chance", she shivered "your cold".

"I'm fine".

"No you're not, if I come in are you going to kill me?" He asked smiling.

"That depends on what you tell me" she answered smiling back, he turned to Elyan.

"No way" he said before Gwaine had even asked him

"Oh come on, it's fine".

"No Arthur told me not to".

"But you'll be out here the whole time, if anything goes wrong all you have to do is step in" Elyan looked around worried that Arthur was hiding somewhere ready to jump out if his orders weren't followed, he gave in.

"Fine, but leave your sword out here", Gwaine passed him his sword and Elyan opened the door. Once inside he took off his cape and wrapped it around Ira before sitting down next to her. Elyan not wanting to intrude walked up the passage a bit so they could talk in private.

"I really am sorry" he tried to apologise.

"Well there's something I never thought I would hear, Gwaine apologising" she laughed.

"So I'm forgiven?"

"No I'm still angry at you, I've just missed your company. Another thing I thought I would never hear" Gwaine laughed.

"You always were the more forgiving one. So what happened after you fell?"

"How long have you got?" She asked.

"An hour".

"That's not going to be nearly long enough".

"Ah well, it's only training I'm sure Arthur won't miss me".


	4. Chapter 4

**So here's the next chapter, haven't had any experience (basically I know nothing about) writing sword fights so I hope it's ok.**

"You want what?" Arthur asked, Gwaine sighed and repeated his sentence.

"I was perhaps wondering if you would forget the trial and free Ira", Arthur looked blankly at him until someone cleared their throat.

"Why?" He managed to say.

"Well you're charging her with thievery, she's not a thief".

"And you know that for definite?" Gwaine nodded.

"Come on Arthur" he grinned, "do it as a favour for me", Arthur looked at him gobsmacked.

"Let me get this straight. You come up here, late also having missed training, not even wearing your cape" Gwaine had let Ira keep it, "and expect me to free her not a couple of hours after you wanted to kill each other, all as a favour for you who obviously does so much around here" he laughed, "Leon what do you think?" Leon looked around nervously.

"Well.." he started before coughing, "she did attack me".

"Oh come on, Leon that was one time, she won't do it again" Leon didn't look so sure, but neither did Gwaine.

"And if I did free her, what would she do?" Gwaine was starting to regret asking.

"Look, Arthur, it's fine, forget I asked" Arthur sighed.

"No Gwaine, I can see this is important to you, especially because she is your family. And it is unfair if what you say is true".

"So she's free?"

"Yes" Gwaine started to thank him but Arthur continued to talk, "under some conditions, she's not allowed to leave she is to stay within the castle grounds, certain areas of the castle will be off limits, and she must be accompanied by one guard at all times". Gwaine couldn't help but smile.

"Anyone would think you didn't trust her".

"I don't, and remember if any condition is broken she will be back in the dungeons and back on trail for probably more things than to begin with" Gwaine stopped smiling and nodded.

"I'll make sure she understands".

"So what am I supposed to do all day?" Gwaine shrugged.

"Anything, look around, help Gaius he could do with it Merlins been really busy lately, there's even a library" at the last suggestion Ira smiled.

"Is it good?" She asked knowing full well Gwaine hadn't finished a book since he was about eight.

"Uhh" Gwaine looked around wildly for inspiration, finding none however he changed the subject, "the main point is if you have a guard with you, you can go anywhere".

"Well not everywhere. Where are those places again?"

"Gwaine hurry up!" The shout echoed across the courtyard, Ira looked around and saw Leon start to jog towards them, Gwaine rolled his eyes.

"I've gotta go, training" he explained, Iras face lit up.

"You're training?"

"No way. Absolutely no way, not a chance" Gwaine said before she could ask. He turned and started to walk towards Leon.

"Perhaps another time?" She called after him.

"NO" He shouted back before disappearing round a corner. Ira turned to the guard standing beside her.

"Hey, I'm Ira" she had decided to at least try and be nice, the guard looked back at her unimpressed. "Fine don't talk" she sighed before heading off towards the main castle.

Ira woke up to the sound of swords clashing. Getting up she made her way over to the window. The small room she had been given overlooked the area where the knights trained. Smiling she got dressed and headed out, yesterday she had managed to explore the majority of the castle and have a look around the library, which she had to admit was quite good. Today however she wanted to do something a bit more exciting.

As she neared the training ground she stopped and watched them, getting an idea of how they fought. Well, she concluded. The knights had stopped to take a break when Arthur called out to her.

"Ira I didn't expect to see you here, is there anything I can help you with?"

"No just watching and giving advice" she smiled and walked over to them.

"Giving advice?"

"Yeah".

"Like what?" He asked confused.

"Well from what I could see your left foot doesn't move too often".

"And?"

"And you're going to need to move it a lot more if you don't want to trip over it" Arthur stared at her speechless. One of the knights laughed but before Arthur could say anything Ira got there first.

"I don't see what you're laughing at neither of your feet want to seem to move at all".

"How can you criticise me, I've been taught since birth to fight and kill. What do you know about sword fighting?" He challenged angrily, Ira turned to Gwaine.

"Quite a lot".

"I taught her everything I know, and she's probably learnt more since I last saw her" Gwaine grinned. Arthur slightly angry at the intrusion walked over to the sword stand, picked up another and threw it at Ira, who to his annoyance, caught it.

"Prove it" he said, Ira looked uncertainly at Gwaine who just nodded and took a few steps back, quickly followed by the rest of the knights.

Ira faced Arthur sword out in front of her.

"Would his majesty like to attack first?" She half mocked.

"Ladies first" he replied coolly. So Ira did, attacking him simply at first with basic attacks, before she started making it more complicated. Knowing all she had to do was trip him over she started to move around him and soon enough he tripped and fell. Lying on his back he looked up to where Ira was standing sword still in her hand.

"You're not too bad" he admitted slowly getting to his feet.

"I could almost say the same to you" she joked.

"But" he continued, "you're weak", she shook her head.

"Weakness doesn't play a major part in sword fighting".

"Yes it does" Arthur tried to argue.

"No it doesn't and since you were the one that ended up on the ground, I just proved that", Arthur turned to his knights for support, who instantly tried to school their faces to look like they hadn't just been laughing.

"Fine then, let's see how you do against Percival" Arthur said smugly, thinking that there was no way she could beat him due to the sheer size of him. Unfortunately for him what Ira lacked in strength, she made up for in her manoeuvrability. Within a couple of minutes she had gotten past his defences and was holding her sword to his throat. He raised his hands too show defeat and smiled down at her.

"Impressive" he said, they both looked over to where Arthur was standing, his mouth was open. Gwaine walked over to him and draped him arm over his shoulders.

"You look like a fish" he grinned pushing it closed, Arthur shrugged the arm off, adamant that someone would beat her he continued.

"Ok fine, so you can defeat Percival how about..." He looked over his knights.

"Hang on you don't seriously think another one of us is going to fight her, do you?" Elyan interrupted.

"Well yes, you are my knights, you should be able to beat her. Leon, how about you?" Leon looked horrified at the thought.

"Well I, um, I" he started to move his arm around, "I think I strained my arm in that last training exercise and I think it needs a chance to heal so..." He trailed off, Arthur was glaring at him.

"Fine" he said through gritted teeth not believing a word of what he had just said, "Elyan, it'll have to be you".

"I'm really sorry, but, I can't do it, morally you know, not right and all that". If it was possible for Arthur to look any more angry, he would.

"Ah come on, it's not that hard".

"Alright, Gwaine, it's your turn".

"Me, that's hardly fair".

"Too hard is it?" Arthur mocked, Gwaine looked angrily around.

"Fine" he said and walked into the middle of the imaginary ring. The fight started they were both equally matched so the fight went on a lot longer than the last two, until, seeing an opening, Gwaine tripped Ira up so that she fell over. But instead of falling over backwards, as Gwaine had expected, she managed to move and roll sideways giving her enough momentum to kick his feet from under him, and let him go sprawling on the ground as well. They both got to their feet quickly and the fight continued, it went on for another couple of minutes until Gwaine was standing behind her with the sword to her throat. Arthur walked over a smug smile threatening to break out onto his face.

"Gwaine wins" he declared.

"Not quite" Gwaine looked down to see a dagger resting again his leg, he swore.

"Hang on that's my dagger, when did you...?"

"When I knocked you to the floor" she replied.

"I was right, you have picked up some more moves" he laughed.

"So have you" Ira removed the the dagger from his leg and he let the sword drop.

"Call it a draw?" He smiled, Ira nodded.

"Wait how was that a draw? Gwaine had a sword to your throat".

"And I had a dagger to his leg", Arthur looked confused so she explained.

"There's a vein in your leg that if you cut you bleed out in a matter of seconds". Arthur nodded and turned to Merlin who had just appeared from the castle.

"Sire, Lord Saevus is here".

"Already?" Merlin nodded, Arthur turned to address his knights.

"Training is finished for today, I expect you all in the council rooms in two hours".

Ira watched Arthur walk off.

"What you thinking about?" Gwaine asked.

"Did he say Lord Saevus?" Gwaine nodded.

"Yeah why?" Ira shook her head.

"No reason".


	5. Chapter 5

**So here's the penultimate chapter. Enjoy.**

Ira watched as Lord Saevus passed her hiding place, which was just another room seeing as she couldn't make the guard guarding her too suspicious. She had heard him walking towards her and before he could walk round the corner, she had taken an 'interest' in a room and managed to get her and the guard through the door quickly. Subtly checking the corridor was clear she walked back out and collided with a maid, making her drop the clothes she was carrying.

"Oh I'm so sorry" Ira looked at her confused.

"Why are you apologising, I'm the one the walked into you?" She said before quickly adding on, "for which I am really sorry" Ira reached down and picked up the fallen items.

"Thanks, I'm Gwen" she smiled.

"Ira, do you want some help with these".

"Oh no it's fine, really".

"I don't mind I've got nothing else to so, especially since I've been banned from the training ground" she muttered, Gwen gave in and nodded.

"Yes I saw that" she said leading the way down the corridor. There was silence for a moment "can ask what you were doing in that room?"

"I was looking around, you know interested".

"In a cupboard?"

"That was a cupboard" Ira exclaimed, Gwen nodded "it's the largest cupboard I've ever seen" Gwen laughed.

"But what were you doing in there really" Ira could see that there was no point in lying as she guessed Gwen would be able to tell instantly.

"I was hiding from Lord Saevus".

"Why?"

"I might have run into him in the past" she admitted, "and well he's not overly fond of me".

"I see" they had reached the courtyard, Ira looked around and saw Lord Saevus looking extremely nervous standing to one side, he seemed to be waiting for someone, she turned back to Gwen who had been talking.

"Sorry what?"

"I said it was nice to meet you but I'll take those now, I'm almost there" Ira silently handed over the stuff she had been carrying and Gwen walked off. Leaving her guard chatting to some friends and making sure no one saw her, she crept round to where Lord Saevus was now having a conversation with one of his servants, she ducked behind a column to hear what they were saying.

"And you can do it again tonight?" He asked urgently "we only have a few more days here".

"Yes my lord, last night was fine no one saw or suspects a thing, the objects are hidden in your cases, no one will think of checking there" the servant reassured him.

"Good. This time I want you to get more, I have heard that a great gem resides in the vaults of Camelot, and I want it".

"It will be done" Ira heard the two men walk away as she tried to make sense of what she had just heard.

They want to rob the vaults of Camelot, and they had already done it once before. She needed to tell someone, she started to head off towards the main castle before she stopped. Why? She hated to king, she hated anyone who thought they were more powerful because of their title. Also who would believe her, Arthur wouldn't even listen, Gwaine might but would he do anything because of the fact Lord Saevus is a Lord? No he would just try and talk her out of it saying she misinterpreted the conversation. She tried to think of who else she could tell, until she realised she had no friends she could turn to. It doesn't need to be a friend though, she thought, just someone who might believe her and tell the king, someone who sees him everyday and might just be able to casually drop it into a conversation, if Arthur actually spoke to those he thinks are lower than him that is. She decided it was worth a try and headed off in search of him.

Merlin was busy making potions for Gaius when he heard the knock on the door. Usually people just knock and enter but this time no one walked in, putting down the knife he was using to chop up ingredients he opened the door to find an awkward looking Ira.

"You know" he said "most people just walk in after they knock", Ira didn't say anything so he continued, "are you ok, is it your side" she shook her head trying to choose her words carefully thinking no one would be too happy if she admitted on eavesdropping on a Lords conversation.

"No, I'm fine..thanks...I was just wondering if I could talk to you for a minute...if you're not too busy" he gestured for her to come in, "in private" she added as the guard tried to walk in as well. Nodding he closed the door behind her.

"What is it?" He asked slightly suspiciously.

"It's about Lord Saevus" she admitted "I've met him in the past and, well, to put it bluntly I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him" Merlin looked confused, so she tried again. "He has a bad habit of taking what he wants, and if, say, there was something here, in this castle that he might want, he would take it, even if it was from the vaults", there was silence.

"You think he is going to steal from the king" she nodded in reply.

"How did you find out?"

"I...I just know him, and...thought..."

"I won't tell Arthur" it was her turn to look confused, "that's what you're worried about, isn't it? That you'll get in trouble about it, probably because of the reason he's a Lord and you're not. So if you tell me how you found this out, I won't pass that bit of information on" she smiled.

"You're cleverer than everyone makes you out to be" he shrugged.

"I've already gone through it once with Gwaine, so will you tell me?" Ira nodded.

"I overheard a conversation in the courtyard and believe that Lord Saevus is getting his servant to rob the vaults, he did it last night and is going to do it tonight as well". Merlin looked thoughtful then nodded.

"I can pass that on discreetly, but on the condition that you answer this next question truthfully" Ira looked at him suspiciously, "why? Why warn Arthur about this?"

"I hate Arthur" she said, "but I hate Saevus more" and with that she walked out.

Thinking about what Ira had said Merlin walked into Arthur's rooms, he was writing at his desk.

"Ah Merlin, I was wondering when you would grace me with your presence".

"Sorry Arthur, got held up".

"By what exactly" Merlin looked up from where he was placing Arthur's lunch on the table, "what in your oh so busy schedule could have made you late?"

"I was talking to Ira".

"Really? You can actually hold a conversation for more than a couple of seconds with someone" he smiled, Merlin laughed sarcastically.

"Funny" he muttered as he started to pick clothes up off the floor, "but in all seriousness she thinks Lord Saevus is going to rob the vaults" he said from inside the wardrobe.

"What!?"

"Yeah she just came and told me".

"That's ridiculous, Lord Saevus is a guest here, is she accusing him?"

"What no, she just wanted to warn you".

"And when is this supposed robbery going to take place?"

"Tonight" Arthur sighed and put his head in his hands.

"We can't trust her".

"Can't we, Arthur I honestly believe she was telling the truth".

"So what I just waltz into our guests rooms and accuse him of thievery. It's just because she hates anyone with a title".

"Arthur please, there might be a way to find out without openly accusing anyone".

"I'm listening".

"We have the knights ready and station them out of sight to keep watch, at most they miss a couple of hours of sleep, but if she is telling the truth we know".

"You know you're not always as dumb as you seem" Arthur agreed, "I want you to find them and tell them to meet here so I can tell them, but make sure no one else finds out" Merlin nodded and ran off to find the knights.

Ira was in her room pacing. She was worried, she had been sure Merlin would pass on the message, but doubts were starting to creep into her mind. At first she had ignored them but with so many it was getting harder. Maybe if she just went down to see if there was anyone there, no she couldn't the vaults were one of the places that were restricted. No one needed to know she was down there though, she was good at sneaking around unseen, but what about the guard, easy, she could knock him out, that way she had a sword as well if she did find someone. She was halfway to the door before she stopped herself, you made a promise, she thought, but what if they don't catch him, another thought said. He thoughts strayed back to the cold cells of Lord Saevus' dungeons, her mind was made up, she had to see him brought down, and if that meant doing it herself then she would. She opened the door and saw her guard was asleep, well that was easy she thought as she took his sword.

She made her way along the dark passages down towards the vaults, even though she knew roughly where she was going she still got lost once. Hearing a rattle ahead of her she slowed down and crept towards the sound. In the faint gloom she could make out a figure locking a huge barred door.

"I knew it" she said, the figure span around unsheathing his sword, he lowered it slightly when he saw who it was.

"Well I never, I thought I saw you creeping around earlier" he sneered, "I always did wonder how you escaped".

"Shut up, what are you doing?" she demanded.

"What does it look like I'm doing, I'm merely taking things which should belong to Lord Saevus, now get out of my way" he ordered.

"Make me". He started to attack her but was clumsy being weighted down by the items he had taken from the vault, Ira knocked him over and was about to knock him out before a pair of hands grabbed her from behind and threw her to the floor. She looked up to see Percival, Leon and Arthur. Without looking at her Arthur turned to Percival.

"Take her to the dungeons" he ordered, Ira was hauled to her feet but before she could be taken away she called out.

"Wait no, he's further up the passage he tried to make a run for it, please, you have to believe me", Arthur watched her vanish into the darkness and turned as Gwaine and Elyan appeared. Gwaine was dragging an unconscious man and Elyan some treasures that he recognised from the vaults.

"Sire, she was right" Leon said but Arthur didn't listen.

"Elyan put those back in the vaults then meet us in the council rooms, Gwaine bring him and follow me" Gwaine didn't move.

"What are you going to do about Ira?"

"I don't know yet" he replied before walking off.


	6. Chapter 6

**Well here's the final chapter, thanks to everyone who has read** **and reviewed, please enjoy.**

It was still late but no one could sleep after what had just happened. They were all gathered in the council room, Arthur was pacing the width of the room whilst his knights and Merlin were standing around watching him. At that moment Leon walked in, Arthur stopped pacing.

"Sire, we searched the vaults at least three times, there are items missing" Arthur nodded.

"There we have it Lord Saevus has been getting his servant to rob you for him" Elyan concluded.

"But how can we be sure it was Lord Saevus who ordered the robbery?" Merlin rolled his eyes.

"By the fact that it's his servant and Ira overheard him giving the orders".

"She could be setting it up" Arthur suggested.

"Why?"

"Well she does have a past with him, she'll openly admit it" Leon suggested, "maybe she's trying to get back at him", Gwaine shook his head.

"That isn't her style, she's not one to sneak around for revenge, if she wants it she'll walk straight up to you and get it".

"But she knows she can't do that, he's a lord, she's not" Gwaine shrugged.

"I still don't think it was her".

"But what was she doing down there, she knows that area is restricted, and where was her guard?"

"Maybe she was worried Merlin hadn't passed on the message".

"Or she..." Leon continued but Arthur cut across him.

"We can deal with her later" he said. The room lapsed into silence "there's got to be another way to find out" Arthur thought out loud.

"How about interrogating the servant?" Percival suggested, Gwaine laughed.

"No chance, he's out stone cold, I made sure of that".

"Actually Arthur, there is one thing Ira did mention. She said that he had done it before, last night, and that the items were hidden in his cases".

"Brilliant Merlin, all we need to do is search his items, if we find them he's guilty if not the servant is working on his own". Arthur nodded.

"Okay, we'll wait until the morning. Then I want..."

"Why the morning?" Merlin asked "Lord Saevus could be waiting for his servant to return right now".

"He's got a point, I say we go now" Percival spoke up.

"And if it isn't Lord Saevus?"

"Why don't you want to go against him?" Elyan asked.

"Because his land is in a very strategic position, it's on the border which means he could as easily side with Cenred, if we can get him to place his allegiance with us then we have a clear knowledge of what Cenred is up to".

"Look Arthur we can all see why we need him to side with us but all the proof is against him, it's got to be him" Arthur, seeing sense, gave in. It was a short walk from the council rooms to the guest ones. Once they were standing outside Leon knocked loudly on the door, it opened quicker than they were expecting.

"How many times have I told you not to knock so loudly you'll..." Lord Saevus trailed off as he saw who it was.

"Trouble sleeping?" Gwaine asked.

"Uh..actually yes".

"And the fact that you were complaining about the loudness of our knocking was for the benefit of everyone else who is asleep".

"Yes. Can I be of any assistance?" The knights strode into the room looking around.

"Surprisingly enough you can" Elyan said looking up from examining the table, Percival took over.

"You see there's been a robbery to the castle vaults".

"There has, oh dear, have you caught the culprit?" Lord Saevus asked trying to keep his face emotionless.

"Unfortunately not" Gwaine said wandering over to the far side of the room and looking behind the curtains.

"The king has ordered us to search every room in the castle to see if we can find the thief and recover what has been taken" Leon explained, looking round he could see the other knights were thoroughly enjoying making Lord Saevus feel as uncomfortable as possible.

"I..I don't see what this has to with me though?" He laughed shakily, "why would I steal, from the king no less?"

"Oh we're not accusing you, this is merely a routine inspection, after all the king did say every room, didn't he Percival?" Elyan called across, Percival grinned in reply.

"That's right 'every room, cupboard and chest' wasn't it? he was pretty angry".

"Ahh I knew we had forgotten something" Gwaine said, walking over he addressed Lord Saevus, "my Lord we will need to check your personal items". Lord Saevus shifted uncomfortably.

"My personal items?" He asked looking around nervously.

"Yes is there a problem with that?" Leon asked innocently.

"No, no not at all search all you want" he gestured to a rather large pile of cases he had brought with him. One by one they opened them and found nothing, they looked at each other uneasily.

"Will that be all gentlemen?" No one answered but they all, apart from Gwaine, turned to leave. Gwaine however wanted a closer look at the chests, they seemed somehow out of proportion, they were a lot bigger on the outside than they were on the inside. Leon turned back having realised Gwaine wasn't with them. He saw Gwaine reach into the chest, Lord Saevus tried to stop him but before he could get there Gwaine pulled the bottom out. He stood up.

"Lord Saevus, the king would like to speak with you".

It was early morning, none of them had slept. The main reason was Lord Saevus, it had taken the rest of the night to finally reach an agreement with him. As much as Arthur wanted to execute him, he knew he needed him to pass on information about Cenreds kingdom, and with this agreement he was pretty sure he couldn't be betrayed. The only thing left to do was talk to Ira, Arthur had tried to put it off as long as possible but by now he had run out if excuses. The doors opened and she walked in, looking slightly uneasy. Arthur who was standing up so he could try and stay awake smiled at her.

"Ira I'm glad you're here. I sent for you because I wanted to apologise and thank you" Iras eyebrows rose slightly in amusement. "You were the one that warned us of Lord Saevus and told us what he was planning, without you he would've made off with some very important treasures from our vaults that have been kept here for generations, and now, thanks to you, they will continue to be here for generations to come". Ira smiled slightly, "I also want to apologise, you were trying to help and were treated unfairly and for that I am very sorry" she nodded before realising she was supposed to say something.

"Well...thank you, not many noblemen are willing to say those words".

"So you forgive me?" she grinned slightly.

"I can see why you did it" there was silence again, and she wondered whether she was supposed to leave, "so am I free to go?" She asked.

"Yes, you can leave. Although I would like to offer you another option" Ira looked around suspiciously "a place here". Ira didn't know what to say, she turned to Gwaine who was smiling at her, to the other knights who, weren't smiling as much as Gwaine, but looked happy with the decision. She could do it she thought for one of the first times in her life, she could settle down and live here, she could belong here and fit in. But would she be able to? Would they truly accept her? She looked back to Arthur who was waiting for her answer.

"I'm sorry but I can't" Arthur stopped smiling.

"Are you sure?" He asked. Ira nodded sadly "very well then" he sounded slightly disappointed but he knew there was nothing he could do to change her mind.

Hardly anyone had come to see her off, Gwaine was there obviously, and the other knights were standing awkwardly to one side, more likely waiting for Gwaine than to see her off. She had bumped into Gwen on her way down, who had tried to get her to stay but had failed. The doors to the castle opened and Arthur walked out followed by Merlin, now that she was surprised at, after the meeting that morning she hadn't expected to see the king again. He looked around.

"Gwaine I told you to give her a horse" he said walking over.

"I offered but she didn't want one" he replied, he was still upset that Ira had said no to staying, having thought she was dead for so long and finally finding her again it seemed unfair that she was leaving so soon. Arthur nodded and turned to Ira.

"I came down to say goodbye and to thank you again" he paused slightly, "and to tell you that you are more than welcome to return at any time" she nodded and then awkwardly went on to say.

"You know out of the many nobles I've crossed paths with you're...you're not too bad. You're fair and just and..it..it would be an honour to return someday" smiling he put out his hand and she took it, then he walked over to where the other knights were standing to give her and Gwaine a bit of privacy.

"Are you sure you want to go?" Gwaine asked quietly, she nodded.

"I can't stay here, not yet anyway, too much to do, too much to see" he nodded to show he understood.

"Come back soon then, even if it's just for a day or two" she nodded and awkwardly put her hand out, Gwaine laughed and shook his head, before Ira could do anything he pulled her into a hug.

"Hey and try not to fall down anymore cliffs" Ira laughed.

"I can't make any promises". Once they parted Ira turned and walked out of the gate really hoping that one day she would return.

**I hope you enjoyed this story, I have had an idea for a sequel so please let me know if you would be interested in reading it, if you are I'll write it. Thanks.**


	7. Chapter 7 or 1

**Hi, so I thought I would put the first chapter of the sequel here. Please review, what you like/don't like, also I would love to hear any suggestions and if I can I'll try and include some if they fit.**

Gwaine looked out the window into the clear night, the moon was bright and lit the courtyard with a faint glow. It had been almost six months since Ira had turned up in Camelot, he was starting to wonder if it had actually happened. The door opened behind him and he listened to the footsteps as they crossed the room to join him, it was Merlin.

"You know I was starting to get worried, I couldn't find you anywhere, the others said you were going to join them but hadn't arrived so I went into town and searched all the taverns, you weren't in any of them" he smiled.

"Why did you want to find me?" Gwaine asked, Merlin shrugged.

"You were acting a bit odd today so I thought you might like some company" Gwaine smiled kindly at him, trust Merlin to know when something wasn't right and try to help you. "What's the matter? Do you want to talk about it?"

"It's nothing, it's just..." Gwaine didn't seem to be able to find the right words to complete his sentence.

"Is it about Ira?" Gwaine looked slightly surprised, he honestly hadn't expected anyone else to remember her, well he thought at least it actually happened then. "Everyone knows you've been slightly depressed since she left".

"It's been six months, I thought she would've visited at least once by now".

"Look Gwaine it's natural that you miss her and worry about her, I mean you thought she was dead for ages, she will come back at some point, you've just got to be patient and let her live her own life for a bit first", Gwaine nodded and looked across to Merlin, he was right, like usual.

"You're right" he admitted, "she been fine in the past, I'm sure she can look after herself" Merlin grinned and nodded, he was about to say something else before the door opened again. Percival staggered in.

"I found you" he said a little too loudly, "why haven't you come down yet, we've been waiting".

"I'm just coming" he grinned, thinking this probably was a good time to stop worrying. He looked out the window one last time, a horseman had just entered, it looked like something was wrong as the rider was hunched down, he looked barely able to sit up, a cloud that had just been blocking the moon started to move, the courtyard got brighter and Gwaine saw that it wasn't a he but a she and she looked very familiar.

"It's Ira" he said moving away from the window towards the door, "she's hurt", Merlin hurried to the window followed by Percival thinking he was seeing things, but there was no mistaking it.

"I'll get Gaius" he said.

"I'll get the king" Percival replied and they both hurried out the the door after him.

Gwaine sprinted through the castle down the staircases, through the halls until he was in the courtyard, Ira looked like she was trying to dismount but was too weak. Giving up she let herself fall, having seen this Gwaine ran forward and just caught her before she hit the ground. Looking down at her he realised she was clutching the left side of her stomach. Carefully moving one of her hands away he saw a crossbow bolt deeply imbedded in her. He started down at it.

"Ira" he said quietly, "Ira wake up" a little louder.

"Gwaine" the shout brought him to his senses and he saw Merlin hurrying towards him. "Is she okay?" He asked, he sounded worried, Gwaine could only shake his head, he was lost for words. "We need to get her to Gaius, come on". Without thinking Gwaine followed Merlin back into the castle and up to Gaius' rooms.

Gaius was already moving potions and books off one of the tables.

"Put her down here" he ordered, Gwaine gently laid her on the table. In the light he could see that she was covered in blood. The door opened and Arthur arrived closely followed by Leon, Elyan and Percival, they had all been drinking when Percival had come to tell them the news.

Gaius examined the wound and turned to Gwaine who by now was pale.

"Will she be alright?" He asked quietly.

"I don't know" he answered truthfully, "I will need to remove the bolt first to see if it has pierced anything internally", he then turned to the rest of the room, "but to do so I want everyone out, it is too crowded in here". No one moved, Gaius sighed "I will let you know how it goes". Nodding Arthur and the rest of the knights shuffled out, "you too Gwaine", Gwaine looked up sharply.

"What?"

"It is a very delicate operation, I'm sorry, but there will be nothing you can do". Gwaine reluctantly agreed saying that he would wait just outside the door and demanded that if anything happened he was to be told immediately.

As soon as the door closed Gaius got to work preparing for the surgery.

"Merlin" he called "have you found the potion?" Merlin who was frantically searching through the shelves pulled a bottle out.

"Yes it's..." He looked down, "empty".

"What!? But we're out of..."

"I know, it's fine I can find some more" Merlin sounded confident, Gaius sighed.

"Well then hurry", Merlin ran out the door, while he was gone Gaius he managed to remove the bolt, luckily it hadn't pierced anything, and stop the bleeding, then he partly bandaged up her side and started to make the potion for Merlins return, it was almost ready when Merlin skidded back into the room herbs in hand. He passed the leaves to Gaius, who instantly added them to the mixture, and lifted up the bandage to see the wound.

"Do we need to do it this way?" He asked quietly.

"I'm sorry?" Gaius asked not understanding.

"I could instantly heal it with magic" Gaius shook his head.

"No Merlin, the king would know, he's seen these wounds many times before and knows how long it takes for them to heal". He walked over with the potion and removed the temporary bandages, "hold these" he ordered before he smeared the potion onto the wound. Once they had replaced the bandages properly, Merlin moved her to a bed to one side of the room and went to inform the others how it went.


End file.
